"Chemical" based intelligence/life is only the bootstrap to "electron" based intelligence/life. Most likely we might be unable to understand that until ourselves cross that line. They will wait for it.
Heck, this begs the question of why the hell would an intelligent alien species even send their meat bags into space, when they can just upload their consciousness into a machine and have it do their bidding, without any of the limitations of biological systems.
We will not wait for that long. When the fundamental "piece" comes out, all our current knowledge in neuroscience will fall into place very quickly.